maoli
maoli noun: a species of very tall, dark green-stemmed banana native to Polynesia, having large bunches of long, round fruits with dark-colored flesh. Also the alternative form of Maoli.
Noun (1)
maoli (plural maolis or maoli)
- A species of very tall, dark green-stemmed banana native to Polynesia, having large bunches of long, round fruits with dark-colored flesh.
- Kaneiakama's spirit companion instructed him what to do, how to place the sacrificial pig, coconuts, red fish, bananas of the maoli variety and other offerings at the foot of a tree that was entered by one of the male gods.1971, Catherine C. Summers, Molokai: A Site Survey, page 201
- [He could choose] light-colored varieties of bananas such as the ha'a, iholena, loha, and lele; or dark-colored varieties such as the maoli, kahtki, puhi, koa'e, malei'ula, 'eke'ula, kaualau, popo'ulu, aulena, and others.1976, Samuel Manaiakalani Kamakau, The works of the people of old, page 38
Noun (2) capitalized: Maoli
Maoli (plural Maolis or Maoli)
- A native of the Polynesian people who settled Hawaii.
- The Maolis were very polite. I was assured by a member of the House of Representatives that the native race is not decreasing, but actually increasing slightly.1897, Mark Twain, Following the Equator […] , New York: American Publishing Company
- When the Hawaiians came to the islands they brought with them plants which extend throughout Polynesia into Malaysia and have accompanied the Maoli race in all their migrations, yielding them food, intoxicating beverage, material for cloth, rope and other domestic and religious paraphernalia.1901, The Planter and Sugar Manufacturer - Volume 26, page 107
- Alternative form of maoli (type of banana).
- In the recent effort of the Hawaiian Fruit and Taro Co. to preserve bananas for export, the Iholena and Maoli — having more of the mealy qualities — were found to be the best for this purpose, while the China banana seemed to have no drying qualities at all, but usually melted away to a pulp.1889, Hawaiian Almanac and Annual for 1890 - Volumes 16-19, page 81
- Ka-ua-lau has fruit that looks like Maoli, except that when immature the dark green skin is speckled with light green spots which resemble fine raindrops, hence the name meaning "many little raindrops."1940, Edward Smith, Craighill Handy, The Hawaiian Planter - Volume 1, page 175
- A religious sect of central India.
- On the Pratipada (or the following day) the kalasthapna ceremony is performed by the Chief himself in the Maoli temple.1909, Central Provinces district gazetteers - Volume 23, page 44
- The Maoli clan worships a goddess at a shrine which women may not approach.1910, Sir James George Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy: 3. An ethnographical survey of totemism
Also used as
maoli is also the alternative form of Maoli.
Forms of maoli
| plural | maolis |
|---|---|
| plural | maoli |
| plural | Maolis |
| plural | Maoli |
| alternative form | maoli |
Origin of maoli
Senses 1 and 2 are borrowed from Hawaiian maoli. Compare Maori (the indigenous people in New Zealand).
Words formed from maoli
Questions about maoli
- What does maoli mean?
- Maoli means a species of very tall, dark green-stemmed banana native to Polynesia, having large bunches of long, round fruits with dark-colored flesh.
- What part of speech is maoli?
- Maoli is a noun.
- What is the plural of maoli?
- The plural of maoli is maolis.
Words near maoli in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: maoli (page history and authors); Maoli (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “maoli.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/maoli. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.